Dreaming in Code, Emily Arnold McCully
Dreaming in Code, Emily Arnold McCully
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Dreaming in Code
Ada Byron Lovelace, Computer Pioneer

Author: Emily Arnold McCully

Narrator: Emily Arnold McCully

Unabridged: 2 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/12/2019


Synopsis

This illuminating biography reveals how the daughter of Lord Byron, Britain's most infamous Romantic poet, became the world's first computer programmer.

Even by 1800s standards, Ada Byron Lovelace had an unusual upbringing. Her strict mother worked hard at cultivating her own role as the long-suffering ex-wife of bad-boy poet Lord Byron while raising Ada in isolation. Tutored by the brightest minds, Ada developed a hunger for mental puzzles, mathematical conundrums, and scientific discovery that kept pace with the breathtaking advances of the industrial and social revolutions taking place in Europe. At seventeen, Ada met eccentric inventor Charles Babbage, a kindred spirit. Their ensuing collaborations resulted in ideas and concepts that presaged computer programming by almost two hundred years, and Ada Lovelace is now recognized as a pioneer and prophet of the information age. Award-winning author Emily Arnold McCully opens the window on a peculiar and singular intellect, shaped--and hampered--by history, social norms, and family dysfunction. The result is a portrait that is at once remarkable and fascinating, tragic and triumphant.

About The Author

Emily Arnold McCully is the author and/or illustrator of many picture books, novels, and nonfiction books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott Medal-winning picture book biography Mirette on the High Wire and Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business -- and Won!, which was a Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year and a finalist for the YALSA Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. Among her favorite topics to write about are brave girls and women. She lives in New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura on February 21, 2019

Ada Byron Lovelace sure is getting a lot of love these days. Emily Arnold McCully's contribution is probably my favorite. 5 shiny stars!......more

Goodreads review by Alisha on February 13, 2019

Ada Lovelace seems to be experiencing something of a resurgence of popularity the last few years, and her story is a fascinating one. This biography, classified as children's non-fiction, does an excellent job of setting out the facts of her life and explaining what made her unique and why she is re......more

Goodreads review by Tvishi on July 08, 2020

Really enjoyed this book. It was very fast paced and I loved the fact that it didn't dwell to much on the everyday life of the Lady Lovelace but kept it to the point. Plus as someone who had never head of Ada Byron Lovelace, I learned a lot.......more

Goodreads review by Alicia on April 25, 2019

Lovelace has a middle-grade/YA biography that captures more about her life than about her computing skills in that somewhat similar to Mary Shelley, her homelife was pretty crappy. In part, she had a rough childhood in that her father was Lord Byron who was already having an affair with his half sis......more

Goodreads review by Cynthia on May 04, 2020

Okay. I have got to walk away from the Byron clan for a bit. They are just too depressing. As are most of the other players in their lives. I did find it interesting to learn that Charles Babbage believed that everything every uttered by man or woman persisted in the atmosphere, that the air itself......more